Trump skips ASEAN summit for the third year in a row

United States President Donald Trump skipped a virtual summit with his Southeast Asian counterparts on Saturday (Nov 14), the 3rd year in a row that the US has been represented at less level.

National security adviser Robert O'Brien said Trump regretted he was unable to attend the web summit with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but stressed the value of ties with the region.

"At the moment of global crisis, the US-ASEAN strategic partnership is becoming a lot more important as we interact to combat the coronavirus," O'Brien said in remarks at the opening ceremony, which was live-streamed to ASEAN members watching from their respective countries.

Trump attended the ASEAN summit in 2017 but sent only representatives over the last two meetings.

A special summit with ASEAN that he was likely to host in NEVADA in March was called off as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump is busy with challenging the results of the Nov 3 presidential race won by Democrat Joe Biden, insisting he was the victim of election fraud. Most countries have acknowledged Biden's victory.

USA national security adviser Robert O’Brien (centre) with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during a virtual summit on Saturday, Nov 14, 2020. US President Donald Trump skipped a virtual summit along with his Southeast Asian counterparts on Saturday, the 3rd year in a row that the US has been represented at less level. (Image: AP/VNA)

The White House said in a statement that O'Brien may also represent the US at an East Asia virtual summit later on Saturday with ASEAN along with China, Japan and South Korea.

Despite Trump's absence, it said ASEAN remains central to his vision for a "free and open Indo-Pacific", Washington's technique to counter China's growing influence in your community.

China's sway in your community is defined to expand with an enormous free trade agreement that'll be inked on Sunday. The pact, that may cover almost a third of the world economy, includes the ASEAN nations, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

India backed out of your plan last year and it generally does not include the USA, despite America's US$2 trillion in trade with the region.

In his remarks on Saturday, O'Brien touted ASEAN as the fourth-largest trading partner for the US, with trade reaching over US$354 billion this past year.

"We deeply appreciate ASEAN partners' efforts to keep the key supply chains open, factories operating and PPE flowing," he said, referring to personal protective equipment used to protect against the coronavirus.

He noted that the US had contributed US$87 million to combat COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, including providing American-made ventilators and PPE.

"AMERICA has your back and we realize you have ours," he added.